


Covered in Red

by ironxprince



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Hurt Peter Parker, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Multiple Endings, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Whump, Poor Peter Parker, Protective Harley Keener, Suicidal Thoughts, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, in another, in one ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25692730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironxprince/pseuds/ironxprince
Summary: Peter is gravely injured while fighting Doc Ock. Harley is there to witness it all.Multiple endings, one unhappy and the other happy. Choose your preferred conclusion. Negative tags apply to the unhappy ending.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 101





	Covered in Red

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yeeharley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeeharley/gifts).



> Because writing an unhappy ending is so much easier, but reading one is difficult.

“So, I’ll come find you after Intro to Psych - which, I still think is a garbage course, by the way.”

Harley bumps his shoulder against Peter’s as they walk through campus, students milling around as they wait for classes to start. “Well, I’m not going to stare at numbers all day, if that’s what you’re hoping for,” Harley replies.

“You know that math will actually help you in your chem course.”

“I know how to add atomic mass. Really, that’s all I’ll need. Why you would voluntarily subject yourself to more of that torture, I’ll never understand.”

Peter shrugs as they pass under the shadow of a tree and pause. Harley leans back against the bark, Peter resting his head on Harley’s shoulder. “Numbers are easier to understand than people,” Peter murmurs.

“Says the man who saves them every day.”

“Which math helps me do.”

“But psych might help you understand why people do what they do in the first place.”

“You have your thing-” Peter leans up, pressing a kiss to Harley’s cheek- “I have mine.”

Harley grins, taking Peter’s hand in his own as they resume the walk to Harley’s classroom. “You know, you don’t have to walk me. Your class is all the way on the other end of campus.”

“Yeah, well, we wake up early enough to walk there and back.”

“My point exactly. If we just go our separate ways, then we can actually sleep in.”

Peter grins. “Trying to get rid of me, Keener?”

“Don’t think I could if I tried.”

“No, you couldn’t.”

Harley sighs happily as they stroll through campus, the sun beginning to peak up over the trees, a thin mist settling over the grass. The air is chilled, and yet Harley doesn't shiver; the boy on his arm keeps him warm.

“Can’t wait for spring break,” Peter mutters. “No classes, no homework-”

“No Spider-Man.” Peter frowns, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. You help people, and that’s great, but… you need to relax. You deserve a break.”

“Not if people are in danger.”

“I know.” Harley squeezes Peter’s hand. “You and your moral code.”

“It’s why you love me.”

“You’re damn right.”

Peter lets go of Harley’s hand as they approach his building. “Intro to Psych, I’ll be right outside.”

“I’ll be looking. And then, out to the lake house for the weekend.”

“I look forward to it.”

Harley turns over his wrist, checking the watch Tony had gifted him. “Alright, if you’re going to make it back across campus in time, you should probably-”

That’s when they hear the crash.

A car accident, by the sounds of it. Harley turns on instinct, searching for the source. He sees people running, hears screams, spots smoke beginning to billow from behind the library. He turns sharply, and he’s looking at Peter’s back, the boy already retreating behind Harley’s classroom.

“Parker!” Harley calls, and he sucks in a breath at the wild look he sees in Peter’s eyes, the one that thrives in the gap where Peter Parker ends and Spider-Man begins. “Be careful.”

Peter nods with a small smile.  _ It’s just a car accident _ , Harley tries to assure himself.  _ Peter’s only going to make sure everyone’s safe. He’ll be fine. _

And then, Harley hears screams.

Eyes wide, he turns to identify the source.

A shadow falls over him.

Four mechanical limbs, twisting and twirling. A man in the centre of it all, dressed in green with goggles shading his eyes.

Doctor Octopus.

“Spider-Man!” Doc Ock bellows, and Harley frantically ducks behind the classroom. He sees Peter in the shadows, mask just coming over his face, and Harley grabs his arm. Peter looks up in surprise; Harley just shakes his head.

“I have to go,” Peter says, trying to tug his arm from Harley’s grip. Harley holds fast.

“No. Peter, maybe if you don’t come out, he’ll think you’re not here. He’ll search somewhere else-”

“Or maybe he’ll start terrorizing the students! Let go of my arm.”

“How’d he find you?” Harley whispers harshly.

“I don’t know, just-”

There’s sounds of mechanical whirring, and screams. Peter looks up. Harley doesn’t move his eyes from Spider-Man’s lenses.

“Peter, please,” he begs. “We’re so close to summer break, to getting out of here, to just being Peter and Harley. I need you in one piece.”

“Then consider this one last hurrah.” Peter steps back, out of Harley’s grip. Harley lets his hand fall. “Stay inside,” Peter says, not unkindly, before he’s gone, firing a web and disappearing around the building.

Harley chases him around the corner, panicked. He had never been nearby when Peter fought off an honest-to-goodness  _ villain  _ before - it’s just been bank robbers or drunk drivers. There’s no way he’s letting Peter go at this alone.

Spider-Man lands on the roof of the science building, watching where Doc Ock waits in the centre of the pavillon. Harley hears Doc Ock chuckle, and that’s enough to set his blood cold. He can’t hear their words; he’s too far away. He needs to get closer.

He hurries around groups of gawking students, some calling the police, others livestreaming the event. Some are cheering Spider-Man on, some are booing him, but most are frozen in fear. Harley shoves past them, his eyes on the figure clad in red. When Doc Ock attacks, Harley doesn’t notice the tentacle until it’s swinging toward Peter.

Harley screams.

Spider-Man dodges just in time, flipping over it and firing a web to secure it to the ground. His eyes search the crowd. They land on Harley, and Harley could swear he sees the lenses narrow.

Spider-Man’s off before Harley can focus on it, swinging and dodging and firing webs, slowly leading Doc Ock further from campus. Doc Ock tears his limb from the webbing and chases after Spider-Man; Harley doesn’t even hesitate before sprinting after them.

Cars swerve and stop. Pedestrians run and hide. Harley pushes through it all. He’s not letting Peter out of his sight.

His heart is in his throat with every move Peter makes, with every yelled taunt the Doc shoots in his direction. Peter fights in the way Harley knows him to, not giving up until he wins (or until he dies). He traps three out of four tentacles, and Harley hides behind a car as he watches the battle in the middle of the street, watches a web trap the Doc’s final tentacle to a lamp post.

Spider-Man says his final words. He turns to walk away.

He doesn’t see the Doc’s mortal arm retrieve a gun from the waistband of his pants.

Harley screams. Peter looks back.

It’s too late.

The gunshot reverberates through Harley’s bones.

His senses are rendered ineffective. There’s a ringing in his ears, gunpowder in his nose, and his vision is blurring but for a single figure in the centre, the one that falls to his knees, hands held to his abdomen.

Harley’s legs are shaking. His hands are trembling. He pushes himself to his feet and his head spins. He stumbles into the line of fire. Doc Ock laughs.  _ Peter. Peter. Peter. _

“No,” Harley sobs as he rushes to the middle of the street. Doc Ock twirls the gun in his hand; Harley doesn’t fear it. The target was already hit, the damage done. He positions himself between Peter and the Doc as he falls to his knees, a hand on Peter’s back.

It’s wet.

“No,” he whispers. “No, no, no-”

Peter takes a trembling breath. He finds Harley’s eyes. “Shouldn’t be here,” he mumbles.

“Shh,” Harley tells him, vision growing blurry. He moves a hand to the back of Peter’s head and gently pulls Peter down, onto his lap.

“I need to-”

“Stay down,” Harley sobs. “Please, for once in your life, stay down, just- just-” He places his fingers beneath the mask. Peter reaches up and catches his hand. “I don’t care about your stupid secret right now!” Harley cries. “Show me your face. Let me see your eyes, pl-please.”

Reluctantly, Peter releases Harley’s hand.

The mask comes off with one swift tug.

Harley moves a hand to cup Peter’s cheek. He looks normal. He looks…  _ happy _ . Happy to see Harley. Healthy, if Harley doesn’t look below his chin.

“Hi,” Harley whispers. Peter forces a meek smile.

“Hey.”

“You idiot. You idiot, why did you- why didn’t you listen to me?” Harley sobs. “Why- why do you have to be so  _ good?  _ Why do you have to-”

“And who’s this?” Doc Ock laughs, and Harley’s hands clench. Peter’s eyes grow wide as he feels Harley tense. “Aw, did I hurt your boyfriend?” The Doc laughs again, and Harley’s vision goes red. He lifts a hand to his watch.

“Harls-” Peter gives a wet cough. “No-” He moves to place his hand over the watch, to block it. Harley pulls his hand away, carefully moving Peter’s head to the pavement as he stands and whirls toward the villain.

“What are you going to do?” Doc Ock provokes.  _ You don’t even know. _

Harley presses the button on the edge of his watch. Peter screams at him to stop. Harley lifts his now-gauntleted hand. He fires a shot.

He turns before it can hit its mark.

He meets Peter’s eyes. Peter stares behind him, horrified.

Harley collapses back to his knees. He cradles Peter’s head against his chest.

“Harley- you shouldn’t have-”

“I don’t care.” Harley grits his teeth. “We’re going out to the cabin, okay? You and me. We’re gonna-”

“Harley-”

“We’re gonna get you all fixed up, okay? You’re gonna be all better-” His eyes betray him and fly down to Peter’s abdomen.

Dark red seeps through the suit, destiny approaching, a fate Harley is helpless to stop. “No,” he whispers as he moves his hands down to the wound. “No, no-”

“Harley-”

“You’re  _ not  _ going to leave me, Parker. You’ve survived worse than- than a damn  _ gun _ . You’re not going to- I can’t- I can’t survive if you leave me-”

Peter grabs Harley’s trembling hands. Reluctantly Harley drags his eyes back to Peter’s face. Peter… he looks calm. He looks so damn calm.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Peter whispers. “I promise you, you’re stuck with me.”

Harley shakes his head. “Don’t lie to me.”

“Tony’s co-coming,” Peter gasps, interrupted by a cough. “When you fired-” He falls into a fit of wet coughs, and Harley helps him sit up, supports him. “On his way,” Peter finishes, exhausted. Harley leans his head down, touches his forehead to Peter’s.

“He’d better be,” Harley demands. His cheeks are wet. “If you die on me, Parker, so help me, I will follow you and drag you back to the land of the living myself.”

Peter lifts a trembling hand. Harley takes it, presses it to his cheek. “I know,” Peter whispers, smiling as he taps his fingers just beneath Harley’s eyes. “I love you.”

“Sounds like a goodbye,” Harley whispers.

“‘S not,” Peter assures. His voice is quiet. His eyelids flutter closed. “Just- just an affirma….”

Peter’s eyes close.

His head falls back.

It takes Harley a moment to realize that something is wrong.

“Peter?” he whispers, shaking Peter gently. “Peter. Pete, open your eyes.”

Peter doesn’t respond.

“No. No, no-  _ Peter! _ ” Harley yells, supporting Peter’s body, cradling his head. “Open your eyes. Open- don’t do this to me, Parker!” he sobs, his hands uselessly flying over Peter’s body. “Don’t- dont-”

Harley drops his head, touches it to Peter’s own. “Don’t leave me,” he sobs. His chest heaves, his throat aching. “I can’t do this without you, I can’t-”

//

**Ending One (Unhappy)**

Words evade Harley as he cradles his boyfriend in his lap. The street is silent around him; New York owes him this much, a moment of silence after what they took from him, what they robbed him of.

Peter grows cold beneath him. His chest stills, his breaths coming to a standstill. By the time Harley hears the thrusters, it’s too late.

Peter’s body is limp in his arms. He’s still warm; the blood has yet to settle. Harley can pretend he’s alive, just for a little bit longer.

“We’ll go up to the cabin,” Harley whispers, curled up beside Peter in the middle of the street, his head resting atop the Spider-Man emblem. What a cruel irony. “We’ll skip rocks on the water. I’ll beat you, because- because you suck at skipping rocks, Parker, you really do. I’ll beat you and you’ll get frustrated- you’ll try to hit me- I’ll stop you before you can. And I’ll pick you up, and I’ll sling you over my shoulder, and I’ll toss you into the lake, but not before you drag me in after you, and we’ll laugh and we’ll splash each other and… and it’ll be just us.” Harley wraps his arms around Peter’s middle and drapes Peter’s arm over his shoulder, as if Peter’s hugging him back.

Peter’s fingers are cold.

“Does that sound nice?” Harley whispers. Under his cheek, the suit is growing damp. “Does that sound nice, just you and me? Because you know- you know I’ll follow you wherever you go, right? You know that. You know that. Like Romeo and Juliet. I always thought that was so sappy, so unrealistic….” Harley gives a wet laugh. He leans back to see if Peter’s laughing, too.

But Peter has yet to move.

Harley brings a hand up to cup Peter’s cheek. “If you die, I will follow you,” he whispers, brushing his knuckles over Peter’s cheeks. “I told you I would. I told you….”

Harley’s throat feels like it’s closing up. He can’t speak. He drops his head, tucks it into the nook between Peter’s chin and his shoulder. He wraps his arms around Peter’s limp body.

If the world around him is silent, Harley can’t tell.

His screams are too loud.

There’s a hand on his back.

“You won’t be going anywhere,” a voice murmurs, low and tight. Tony. “I’m not losing- not you, too.”

Harley sniffles. “I have to follow him. I told him I would.”

“You know he would kill me if I let that happen.”

Harley shakes his head.

Tony kneels beside Harley, the suit retracted. He places his hand on Peter’s forehead. “You’re the best of all of us, kid.” Harley watches a tear trace its way down Tony’s cheek. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, and a sob wracks its way through Harley’s chest. He lurches forward, and Tony catches him, pulls him away.

“No,” Harley shouts, fighting against Tony’s grasp. “No, I have to follow him- I have to be with him-”

“It isn’t him,” Tony whispers, pulling Harley flush to his chest. Harley fights him, because, what does Tony mean,  _ That’s not him?  _ Peter’s right there. He’s there, in the middle of the street, and he’s alone and he- he was  _ cold.  _ Harley needs to warm him up. Peter’s probably scared; Harley needs to hold his hand-

“It’s not him. It’s not him,” Tony repeats, and Harley fights harder, straining to get to Peter’s side.

“He needs me,” Harley shouts. “Please, he needs me, let me-” Harley collapses, strength evading him. He falls into Tony’s chest, hands grabbing at the back of his suit jacket, tears soaking Tony’s expensive tie. “He needed me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Tony whispers as he supports Harley, as he holds him tight. “It’s not your fault.” Tony’s voice hitches, a crack in his strong exterior.

Harley shakes his head as he holds Tony tight, staring over his shoulder at the blurry image of the figure on the pavement a couple of steps away.

“I will follow you,” he mouths, and Tony holds him tighter, and Harley thinks,  _ It will be okay. _

_ Soon, it will be okay. _

_ I’m coming. _

//

**Ending Two (Happy)**

Harley looks up at the sound of thrusters powering down. A gust of wind wipes his tears away as Tony urges the suit forward.

“Step back,” Tony demands, and in an instant he has Peter in his arms and begins to look around.  _ The mask _ , Harley realizes, and he forces his heavy limbs to reclaim it from the ground. Taking it in his hands, he presses a slow kiss to Peter’s forehead.

“Please be okay,” Harley begs before sliding the mask over Peter’s curls. “Please.”

Tony lifts off, and Harley doesn’t even hesitate. He sprints back to campus, shoving past the group of gaping onlookers, and hurries to where he parked his car that morning. It takes him three tries to shove the key into the ignition and turn it, and he prays he won’t get pulled over as he speeds onto the road. He refuses to stop for any reason.

New York traffic is a nightmare, and Harley can’t afford to wait, so he runs. So much for the scratches his key left around the ignition port.

He lets the pounding of his feet on the pavement and the air flooding in and out of his lungs deprive him of thought. His knees hurt, he feels nauseous for more reasons than one, and people keep getting in his way, but at least he’s not thinking of the sound of the gunshot, of Peter falling to his knees, of him bleeding out in the middle of the street, of his eyes falling shut-

Of Harley murdering a man.

Harley spurs himself on faster.

By the time he reaches Stark Tower, he feels like he might throw up. Friday opens the elevator for him, and he has to take a deep breath before telling her to take him to wherever Peter is. The doors close, the elevator begins to rise to the med bay, and Harley leans against the elevator doors, dropping his head in his hands.

_ Please, let him be okay. Please, let him be okay. Please- _

The elevator doors open with a  _ ding _ , and Harley falls out of them, taking a moment to catch his balance on shaky legs and recentre himself. He sprints to the room that had unofficially been labelled as  _ Peter’s _ , after one too many trips and injuries. Harley prays this isn’t the last time he’ll be here.

Tony catches him outside - literally catches him, placing his hands on Harley’s shoulders. Still, Harley strains to get past him, and Tony tightens his grip.

“He’s in surgery,” Tony says, cutting right to the chase.

“Is he-”

“He’ll be fine.”

Harley lets his eyes fall shut. He releases a long breath he didn’t know he was holding, leaning against the wall to his right and falling right to the floor. He tucks his knees up to his chest and rests his head atop them. He’s sobbing and he’s smiling and he’s laughing and he feels like he might be sick, but Peter’s  _ okay _ . He’s alive, and Harley will see him once more, and this is  _ not  _ the last time he’ll be visiting this stupid hospital wing in a panic.

Tony slides down the wall next to him, settling with a quiet groan. “You know, I’m sure the chairs just across the hall are more comfortable.”

Harley lifts his head. He’s smiling. “I don’t care.”

Tony drums his fingers on his knee. “I’m going to need the watch back.”

Harley feels his eyes narrow. “I was defending us.”

“He was webbed up pretty good, and it was obvious you weren’t a target, or you’d be dead. The only thing you were defending was your pride.”

“He was taunting me.”

“So are you going to blast a hole through the next person to call you names?”

“I thought he wasn’t going to make it,” Harley whispers, dropping his head between his knees once more. “I really- I thought I was going to lose him. I’m sorry.”

Tony nods once. “I get that. So maybe we’ll add some nonlethal options, because we can’t ask that kid to stop putting his life on the line. You know how he is.”

Harley blows out a slow puff of air. “We’re going away for summer break. We’re not coming back.”

Tony laughs quietly. “Good luck keeping him away from his city.”

“I’ll tie him to a tree if I have to. We’re not doing this again.”

Tony places an arm around Harley’s back, and Harley drops his head onto Tony’s shoulder as they stare at the white wallpaper and green plastic chairs across from them. “You know he’s going to keep doing this. You know this is going to happen again, and again, and again, because it’s what that boy does.”

Harley sniffles. “I wish he wasn’t so damn self-sacrificing.”

“Sadly, I think he’s spent too much time around me.” Tony runs his free hand down his face. “I know you love him, and you care about his safety. Hell, I do, too, but he’s going to keep doing this, no matter what we tell him. He’s got too big a heart to just give it up, so if that’s something you’re not prepared to handle…. It’s going to make both of you miserable if you continue to try to fight through. We can give him some more safety measures and you can trust him to come home safe, every night, or you have to end this. I’m sorry, Keener. You can’t talk him out of it.”

Harley lets out a slow breath. “I know.”

“You have to choose. Would you rather deal with high blood pressure for the rest of your life, or are you going to let him go?”

“Not an option,” Harley answers instantly. Tony smiles.

“Then you’ve got to start trusting him.”

“Only when you make his suit bulletproof.”

Tony laughs, and Harley manages a small smile. He feels the tension slide right off his shoulders. “I’ll work on it,” Tony says. “He’ll be in surgery for a while. If you want, you can go back to school-” Harley’s shaking his head before Tony can finish his sentence. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. Alright, settle in. We’re going to be here a while.”


End file.
